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to barack obama?

>> call bill clinton every morning. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: that's newt gingrich offering president obama some unsolicited advice. meanwhile the obama and romney campaigns are managing expectations. even the most ardent democrat would admit that president obama isn't the best debater. but according to beth myers . . . >> jennifer: and then president obama's top political advisor is just as glowing about mitt romney . . .

they are so funny, my opponent he is abe lincoln and daniel webster all rolled into one. isn't that kind of weird hearing the campaign say such nice things about their opponents? believe me it's not going to last and it's all part of managing expectations before the debate. for more i'm joined by one of the country's foremost experts on the subject. samuel popkin who is a professor of political science at the university of san diego. he has worked on campaigns going back to the 1970s, and he is also the author of "the candidate." welcome back inside "the war room," profez or. >> it's a pleasure to be back with you governor.

>> jennifer: all right. do you think this has been taken to a new level this year? >> i think it has been taken to a new level every year, and gets more mindless meaningless and irrelevant every year. >> jennifer: i love that. because? because? is it going to matter? >> no, nobody cares what you thought going in. if you think your team is going to lose and they lose is that better than if you think they are going to win and they lose. [ laughter ] >> what counts is what happens in the debate not what you tell people. this is like a high school pep rally. >> jennifer: all right. i want to talk a little bit about prep, because you had some very interesting experiences. you played ronald reagan for jimmy carter ahead of the 1980 debates, and in your book you write this about what hand to

president carter . . . what the heck went on? >> you know, when you are president, nobody looks you straight in the face and questions your motives, your character, or suggests you are putting the blame on everybody else. you say those things to the president. it's a little bit like hans christian anderson's new clothes. because i am trying to get him ready to beat reagan and i didn't know who i was. >> jennifer: all right. you go into the debate preps, and people are telling you all of these terrible things. it's being told to you in a

debate style with a bunch of people there. it's extremely unpleasant. >> you may hear something from a reporter, or something shouted out at the rally, but when somebody confronts you -- when putin or netenyahu get together they don't talk to each other like that. it is very careful and calibrated. so this is the first time somebody is in your face like on a football field. >> jennifer: now let me jump to the actual debates. i made a prediction that president obama is going to lose the first debate to governor romney at least in the media's view. do you agree? >> i think that's the single debate he could lose and i

think you are on the money, because until they are in there, it is often the case that the incumbent just hasn't gotten out of that bubble and gotten down off of the pedestal and faced that they have to fight for the job again. >> jennifer: i think five out of the six challengers in the last presidential debates were declared as the winner of the first debate because it's easier to knock the incumbent off because of that. if you had the opportunity to give him one piece of advise what would it be? >> don't ever treat this like it's two gladiators. if you go in there to defeat romney, you loose. if you go in there to show that your policies are better than his policies, you win.

it's not about being better smarter, quicker than romney. it's about policies that are better for the audience than romney's. you can almost like romney hate his policies and you are better off if you go in there because you have contempt for him. >> jennifer: i think that's a perfect piece of advice. thank you for coming in here and giving us that advice. coming up next in "the war room," we'll introduce you to a government operative who gives new meaning to the word "devious." and here he is samuel l jackson the get out the vote movie. >> they are all the same? brother, please.

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♪ >> jennifer: this week a video surfaced on the internet showing a woman in colorado doing voter registration, but only for certain voters. >> and who are you registering? all voters? >> i'm actually trying to register people for particular parties, because we're out here in support of romney actually. >> and who is paying you for this? >> we're working for the -- county clerk's office. >> okay. you cannot come down here and register one party, lady. >> jennifer: said a denver tv station confirmed that she was

working for a man named nathan sproul. he has been working on campaigns for years. and what does the campaign work include? apparently it includes registering voters in a way that specifically benefits the candidates who hired him, the republican candidates. in 2004 nevada state election officials looked into allegations that sproul . . . democrats who had registered through sproul's group, later told the reno gazette journal their names were not on the rolls when they went to vote. that same year democratseptors

leahy, and kennedy sent a letter asking for an immediate investigation against sproul. and nothing happened. and now nathan sproul is back. according to the l.a. times, the republican national committee paid sproul's company, $3 million to recommendster vote fors in colorado nevada north carolina, and virginia this year. and the romney campaign paid sproul an additional $70,000 for five month's of work but he is being investigated again. florida election officials aledge that sproul's company submitted over 100 fraudulent

registrations this year. they dismissed the incident of this fraud as the case of quote, one bad apple in an organization. this from the party that has otherwise by screaming about voter fraud all year. when it comes to voter fraud me thinks the republican party protest too much. joining me now is lee fang, who has been writing about the issue for "the nation" magazine. great to have you back inside "the war room." >> thank you for having me. >> nathan sproul as you mentioned worked for republicans for years, and there were allegations back in 2004. this came up in oregon minnesota, west virginia pennsylvania, and there are many

other types of hijinks that have been associated with his firm. so the republicans wanted to hire him, just didn't want to be connected with his name. the l.a. times reported today that sproul was actually asked by the rnc to set up a shell corporation. >> jennifer: they asked him to set up the shell company in a different way. and he hired that young woman who was apparently instructed that she was to say she was hired by the county clerk's office. >> yes, and they are giving people cigarettes in exchange

for registering as a republican. and these are the exact same tactics his firm was accused of in 2004 and 2006. >> jennifer: okay. mccain still hired anymore 2008. >> actually the same thing keeps playing out. in 2008 sproul changed his name to lincoln strategy group, and mccain hired him using a california affiliate. >> jennifer: here is what kills me about this lee, is the rnc cuts their ties with him. they sown totally shocked that this would happen. calling it a few bad apples and yet they have this history with

him. >> it reveals the conceit by the republican party who have been hammering voter fraud. these tactics that have been accused against acorn. but here they have a firm they have been paying millions of dollars. they know it is a problem, because they asked him to change his name. >> jennifer: do you worry because this fraud occurred inside the republican party, that they will use it to justify their voter integrity scheme across the coup try. they'll cut their ties they hey, but because it's so rampant we'll continue to press on with these voter id laws. >> i think they probably will try some type of tactic like

that. but there's a substantive difference between turning in a phony registration form. if he is destroying registration forms, that is a serious -- >> jennifer: and will there be an investigation? >> i think it's too early to tell florida is looking into the accusation. >> jennifer: can't be it linked to the romney campaign since he made $70,000 for this guy's services just last year? >> certainly. >> jennifer: yes. the bottom line is certainly. this is unbelievable that they would continue to go back to the well on this. lee thank you for your great reporting on this. >> thank for having >> jennifer: lee fang, who has

been writing about the issue for "the nation" magazine. all right. you have to commence that comedian sarah silverman will do just about anything to ensure president obama's reelection. that's coming up. used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

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[ censor bleep ] florida? >> jennifer: who can for get that video? well, sarah silverman and her pals are at it again in 2012 and they have enlisted the help of some very high profile friends. take a look. >> millionaires just declared war, on schools, the environment, unions fair pay, we're all on our own if mitt romney is elected. i strongly suggest that you wake the [ censor bleep ] up. >> jennifer: so now let's get to one of the brains behind the great shlep and wake the bleep

up. thank you for being here? >> thank you for having me. >> how did you get involved in this project? >> i had been active like many young people in 2008. i canvassed for obama, phone banked -- >> jennifer: where? >> at the university of michigan, go blue. >> jennifer: go blue. carry on. >> yeah. and in 2008 when obama won, i think a lot of people felt that change had already been won, when it was really just the beginning. and 2010 we kind of got

complaisant, including myself and i want to get back involved. >> sheldon, i have a proposal for you, and i'm serious. look at me. if you give that $100 million to obama instead of romney i will -- well i won't have sex with you, because we're not married and i'm a nice girl but i will scissor you. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: has sheldon adelson responded? >> well, i'm not privy -- i'm not exactly privy to what happened behind closed doors, but i do know that sheldon adelson saw the video, and he is still contributing $100 million to romney which is not good.

>> jennifer: do you have any evidence that the great shlep and these videos this year are going to have an effect of getting young people to the polls. >> we do know in 2008 the first video got 20 million views, and hundreds of people actually went down to florida and talked to their grandmas and grandpas to get them to vote for obama as it has been proven to help turn florida blue. the video that came out yesterday already has 2 million views. >> jennifer: that's fabulous. >> yeah it felt like we broke the internet for about five opinions. >> jennifer: what is going on there?

why is this the best way to get the attention of millennial voters? >> okay. well i would say first i think the comedic videos they allow people to kind of have a point of entry that maybe they wouldn't necessarily have for some wonkier ideas. i think millennials are more aware of the obstacles that truly stan in our way. hope and change is back but it's more mature. >> jennifer: there is a poll out today from pew which says that youth engagement is falling and registration is declining for young voters under the age of 30. that they are 50% less likely essentially to be following the campaign closely, so hopefully

what you are doing is going to increase that number. you have more videos coming out between now and election day, and i know their contents are a very closely guarded secret. but can you give us a little bit of dirt? >> part of the appeal to these videos is they are secret and part of why they are so successful it takes news so we'll keep a few guarded secrets, but you'll like what we do. and they will be funny and insightful, and there might even be a little poetry in there too. >> jennifer: are there a few more between now and the election election. >> there's a handful, but we're still developing a lot of ideas and actually the model this

election is we're trying to [ inaudible ] as many as possible, and i would encourage people to go to our facebook page. >> jennifer: that's great. and we will have a link current.com as well. i appreciate you coming inside "the war room" chad for the work that you are doing. later unroll the red carpet as brett ehrlich honors the best and the worst of the week that was. >> coming up why am i wearing a tuxedo? it's obvious. because my dress is not back from the cleaners yet. don't go away. this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is.

i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa.

♪ >> jennifer: before you leave you, this week has given us so much that we decide it was only right to give the week something in return. here to do that is our own brett ehrlich. shhhh, brett's talking now. >> it's friday night, which means it's time for everyone's favorite new award series that i'm trying to get off the grown, the weekies. we begin with best picture of mitt romney. best picture goes to mitt romney holding a baby. as if the last few weeks aren't difficult enough, add on to that

this photo. how are you still so awkward with children? you have like 30 of them. moving on best visual aid. thank you, benjamin netenyahu at the un. nothing captures the severity of a nuclear crisis quite like a nuclear bomb. and finally the award for best sequel, thanks elizabeth. best sequel goes to todd akin. he calls his opponent a real wild cat who acted unlady like. well done, todd and well dope

all of our award recipients. i'm done talking now. >> jennifer: someone is also in your "war room" check us out on line at current.com/thewarroom, and check out our webex -- web extras. now look at this a flip flop with a wine glass and gapes. great picture -- poster of rfk. this is elizabeth kent from california, and look at what napsy woodruff did, the 99% quilt in two different ways so beautiful. thank you so much for doing that. i just got to remind you. 39 days until the election.

it is time to register folks. your vote counts. do not pass over this is the most important thing we have. please register and get everyone you know to get out and register too. and have a wonderful weekend. we'll see you right back here on monday night. >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer and this is "viewpoint." conservatives that see liberal bias in the polls don't have a friend in fox news. and next week is the first presidential debate. the latest fox news poll has registered